Effects
by the only one
Summary: Sydney's decisions change everything. One meeting has extraordinary effects. AU. each chapter expands prologue, and year changes in each chap. sarkney,svaughn,sydanny (PG for some maturity.)
1. Prologue

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
Prologue-  
  
Liam was finally sleeping. Sydney sighed, watching his little body move up and down, rhythmically. Up and down. Just like his mother's life.  
  
Five years ago, it seemed everything was finally going to come together. The Alliance had been losing power. The CIA was countering Sydney's missions more effectively than before. Everything just seemed better, more focused. Of course, the things Sydney did in order for those things to happen she was not entirely proud of.  
  
She had crossed over.  
  
Gone over to Sark's side when he had mentioned the comprehensive offer. Now, she realized that it had been the plan all along; her mother's plan. Bring Sydney over to my side and let the others deal with it. The comprehensive offer hadn't been much different than what Sydney was living now, except Sark wanted her to move to Italy with him.  
  
Italy. The Vatican. Sydney couldn't believe that she had broken into the Vatican. With Vaughn, of all people. They should have gone out to dinner that day; it would have been their only chance. Ever. Especially after what she had done to him.  
  
Sydney didn't want to move to Italy, but she did. After graduating, she had nothing to do. And in Italy she could start over; forget the past. Teach. It beckoned to her, the idea of leaving SD-6. She knew the CIA and SD-6 would track her eventually. By then she could have a whole new life.  
  
Eventually she had married Sark. Looking back, she wondered what had caused her to fall in love with him. She had fallen in love before, twice. Both had ended tragically. Obviously she had thought the third time was the charm. The only good outcome of their affair had been Liam. Liam's name had been an issue. It was a tribute to Sydney's previous loves; Sark had thought it sounded exotic. Both had loved their child. Sydney still loved him. Sark didn't have enough time to get to know him. His own son, ripped away from him when death was two steps away. The agony of it.  
  
Sydney wondered what could have happened had she not met with Sark that night. Could everything be different? Could she be with Vaughn or even Danny, Liam be their child? No. She had stopped believing in fate long ago. Her choices; life or death, right or wrong; affected everything in her life. Everything and everyone. 


	2. Both sides of the coin

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
Both sides of the coin-  
  
'Five years ago, it seemed everything was finally going to come together. The Alliance had been losing power. The CIA was countering Sydney's missions more effectively than before. Everything just seemed better, more focused. Of course, the things Sydney did in order for those things to happen she was not entirely proud of.'  
  
-  
  
Sydney watched him explain her countermission. She heard everything he said, but there was something about his movements that always caught her eye. This was what usually happened. She would be watching his eyes or his hands and he would say, 'Any questions?' A quick no would do the trick, and he would end with a 'Be careful' that she smiled at. Of course he cared about her. More than professionally, but doesn't that happen to everyone at least once in their lifetime? She wanted to go back in time, to that night where she had cried. They had stood beside each other watching the ocean, and he had taken her hand in his, warming her and giving her faith once more. Eight letters stood in their way; kept them from not living a lie, from having a relationship.  
  
"This is the disc that you'll give SD-6, not the one you find. Slip the original in your pocket or purse; somewhere it won't be found. Now, the disc that I had CIA technicians make has some known Rambaldi information on it. It's formatted on Word, nothing special." He turned the disc over, and Sydney could see a large scratch and some smaller ones around it. "These scratches are placed so no laser can read this disc; not even the most top-of-the-line CD-ROMs can do it. You tell Sloane that this is how you found the disc."  
  
"It makes sense," Sydney said, taking the disc from Vaughn's outstretched hand. "I mean, it's been sitting in an empty briefcase—it's bound to have moved around."  
  
"Right." There was a long pause. Obviously this was all Vaughn was supposed to say, but Sydney could tell there was more. "If you can't get the disc to me at LAX, just destroy it. We'd rather no one have this intel than SD-6."  
  
Sydney looked at him questioningly. "Are you sure? Did Kendall tell you to do this?"  
  
"No, but some of the techies were implying it. There's not that much on that disc that won't be found somewhere else eventually."  
  
"Okay." Sydney pocketed the disc. She spoke before he could. "I'll see you when I get back." Smiled.  
  
He smiled back. Watched her leave. He didn't know where she was going from here; probably back to her apartment, to watch a movie or something.  
  
Nowhere near the truth.  
  
-  
  
'She had crossed over.  
  
Gone over to Sark's side when he had mentioned the comprehensive offer. Now, she realized that it had been the plan all along; her mother's plan. Bring Sydney over to my side and let the others deal with it. The comprehensive offer hadn't been much different than what Sydney was living now, except Sark wanted her to move to Italy with him.'  
  
-  
  
"Thank you for agreeing to see me."  
  
"Can we get this done quickly? I have a flight to catch."  
  
"I know—"  
  
How could he know? She had only just found out.  
  
"—I've got my sources. Now, whatever Arvin Sloane is paying you, I can get you double. Triple if you'd like. You will report to me once a week; same time, same place. Your missions will not interfere with any life you try to create, unless it is long-term. Even if you recruit someone to take your place, I cannot guarantee anything. I doubt we could find anyone as good as you, however. I know you were interested in a teaching job; there will not be time enough for a regular work week. You will be a substitute professor at a college."  
  
She interrupted. "Which one?"  
  
"It doesn't matter."  
  
"What is your plan?"  
  
"You'll see."  
  
"I need to know. I need a timeframe. What about my missions at SD-6? I don't understand how I can be a professor and supposedly work at a bank as well."  
  
"You need not worry about that."  
  
He handed her a slip of paper. She crumpled it and looked up at him.  
  
"Read it," he commanded.  
  
"If it has anything important on it, you can tell me what it says."  
  
"Only your new address."  
  
"What are you talking about? I'm not moving anywhere."  
  
"Yes, you are." With that, he turned and walked away, the vision of his crisp suit retreating. He had the information no one else had, as well as the sources. Sydney watched him, knowing that she would have to accept his offer if she wanted to bring down SD-6. Sark was offering her a new life. Everything she wanted, but with consequences she didn't. She didn't want to let go of the people in her life. 


	3. Sacred ground

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
Sacred ground-  
  
'Italy. The Vatican. Sydney couldn't believe that she had broken into the Vatican. With Vaughn, of all people. They should have gone out to dinner that day; it would have been their only chance. Ever. Especially after what she had done to him.'  
  
-  
  
"Where's the world of international corporate banking taking you to this time?" Will asks.  
  
Sydney pauses, unsure of what answer to give him. "Boston."   
  
-  
  
"So, I was thinking, we're in Rome which is the same city as Trattoria de Nardi." This was Vaughn, the apparent king of idle chatter.  
  
She smiles. "What's that?"  
  
"Well, it's my favorite restaurant in the world." They keep working, disarming the bomb.  
  
"So why is Trattoria de Nardi so good?"  
  
"Well, it's only good if you like food."  
  
She wants to laugh, but there isn't enough time.  
  
They see the painting. "We don't have time." He speaks in a commanding manner. "We'll take it with us."  
  
"Wait a minute. Give me the flashlight." He obliges. He never won't, not when she's asking. "This is it. This is the code key."  
  
"All right. I got it." He takes pictures, she watches him move efficiently.  
  
She knocks out the guard; quick kicks her specialty. "He was sending for back-up," she overhears. "We gotta move."  
  
There would be time for the restaurant next time. Next time.  
  
-  
  
Sydney looked around the church. It had originally been an SD-6 mission, but with the CIA countermission and Sark's countermission, she had entirely too much to do. It was starting to confuse her, too. She didn't want to accidentally give herself away to Sloane or Dixon, yet she still had to hold her tongue around Sark and Vaughn . Everyone knew a different story.  
  
Worst of all was her father. She still only spoke him every so often, but he was supposedly the one who knew everything about her; her personal life, work life. He didn't.  
  
Suddenly, she noticed the altar. And the way it seemed to mysteriously caved in the middle. Running up to it, she examined the top and sides for secret panels, and concluded that this was not the secret vault of K-Directorate. It was made of a single block of marble; if it was the vault, what secrets would be found underneath? Sydney used her laser terra-hertz camera and pointed it at the bottom of the altar. The camera showed nothing underneath but the floor.  
  
She recalled something CIA had caught on one of the "un-used" radio frequencies that were used by agencies like SD-6 and K-Directorate. Something about the third one back. But what?  
  
"Pew," she whispered. Of course. It was much less of a hassle to create a vault under the churchgoers than it was to create one under solid marble.  
  
Sydney looked around. There were four columns of pews, each made of a different type of wood and therefore four different colors. Depending on where one stood, there were an infinite number of pews that were the 'third one back.' She stood in front of the altar, trying to figure out which was the pew that held the key to stolen riches. She could hear breathing in her earphone.  
  
"Sydney?" Three voices.  
  
"I'm here Dixon."  
  
This time only one spoke. "I just got some intel via satellite. You're looking for the third row back. Wait just a moment, I'm still getting which vantage point you should start at." Two others listened, holding their breath. They already had received this intel, but the starting point was news to them. "Okay, start on northwest side of the East Mountain Ash row, looking east."  
  
Before Sydney could get there, a powerful blow hit her stomach.  
  
"Ohh!" She fell to her knees, the wind knocked out of her. She looked up at her attacker. "Anna."  
  
"Hello, Miss Bristow." Anna Espinosa began delivering thrusts and punches to Sydney's mid-section. Sydney started blocking, and punch by punch Anna was slowing down. Sydney threw a hard roundhouse to her opponent's neck just beside the collarbone. Anna clutched her throat; the punch had ripped at least two ligaments and pushed her trachea out of alignment, disallowing her to talk or breathe easily. Sydney ran to the pew and pulled a small bomb off her belt; turned it on and stuck it on the pew in question. She jumped behind a nearby pew and let the explosion happen. By now, Anna had surely called for help, but there was no looking back just yet. Sydney placed her codebreaker on the chrome vault and connected it to her cell phone. Within seconds, she transmitted the encryption system to Dixon, who ciphered it and sent the code back to Sydney. She started punching numbers and symbols into the various keypads on the vault. Suddenly—  
  
"Get out Sydney! GET OUT!"  
  
"Wait, I'm almost done."  
  
"I've got thirteen K-Directorate agents coming towards you on radar! I can't get to you—"  
  
"Don't worry, Dixon. I'll be out before they get here."  
  
"There are unidentified agents on radar, Sydney!"  
  
"What are you talking about? You just said they were K-Directorate."  
  
"I just got another one on the heat sensor. Get out of there, Syd!"  
  
"Sydney!" She looked to the church's entrance. There stood Vaughn.  
  
She pulled her left earring off and threw it to the side. "Vaughn, there are thirteen K-Directorate agents coming towards us! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Let's go! This isn't the real vault!"  
  
"Of course it is; why wouldn't it be?"  
  
"It's a decoy to destroy agents like you. When opened, that 'vault' is really a bomb." Sydney tried comprehending this new information, but it seemed to be untrue according to her many sources.  
  
Machine gun shots rung out; Vaughn and Sydney hit the floor, yards away from one another. "Vaughn? Vaughn!" She crawled towards her handler, but the blood was flowing towards her already, making its way between the tiles and across the mosaic floor. It couldn't be true; it wasn't. She reached for his hand and felt a limp squeeze back, all under the shade of hundreds of bullets aimed directly at them. She wouldn't let it be true.  
  
It was. 


	4. Overlooking the obvious

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
Overlooking the obvious-  
  
'Sydney didn't want to move to Italy, but she did. After graduating, she had nothing to do. And in Italy she could start over; forget the past. Teach. It beckoned to her, the idea of leaving SD-6. She knew the CIA and SD-6 would track her eventually. By then she could have a whole new life.'  
  
-  
  
Sydney sat as the last of her students left the room. The rumor mill stated that her American Literature classes were the most liked by all students, whether they were an English major or not. Of course, the fact that almost sixty percent of her pupils were of the male gender might have helped this 'statistic.'  
  
"Miss Stevens?"  
  
She looked up with a warm smile, ready to help this student in need. Rita Stevens was the name she had taken after she had moved. At first she had been convinced that moving to Italy was not the solution to her problems, but right after what had happened to Vaughn, she just wanted—needed to get away.  
  
She had been almost sure that her connections with Sark would never make her life easier. How wrong she had been. For the first time in her life after she had joined SD-6, she wasn't worrying about her future. She didn't plan every moment any longer, and teaching was more relaxing than she had ever thought it could be.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Sydney said harshly, standing up but looking down to rearrange some papers.  
  
"I just wanted to see how you were doing."  
  
"Fine, just fine."  
  
It was amazing how seeing—hearing Sark reminded her of all she had left behind. Especially her father. They had just started to build their relationship with each other when she got up and left Los Angelos. He was the one who had given her strength, even when it seemed they hated each other more than ever. The emotion that fueled their lives had definitely been a raw energy stronger than adrenaline.  
  
Sydney stopped shuffling the papers aimlessly and voiced her thoughts. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Just thought we could have a little dinner after you got off, that's all."  
  
"What, a little boss and employee meal? Do you really believe I'd go for that?"  
  
"I know for a fact that every day you wish you'd done it with Michael. Or, as you lovingly referred to him: Vaughn." Sydney looked away, out the window in her classroom, but Sark continued as if he were speaking to the personification of naïveté. "Yes, you were in love. Did you think that no one noticed?"  
  
Sydney's eyes welled with tears. She tried not to think of Vaughn, but it was true that she remembered him every day. The hugs they shared towards the end, the casual brushes past each other, holding hands when they were alone—it was love no matter what she forced herself to believe. She only wished she had told him. She had wanted to, before he left her. There he had lain, her looking over his body and seeing the three dents on his torso, staining his gray shirt. Even then she had blocked out of her mind what she had wanted to say. They had watched each other soundlessly, each breath uttering what they wished they had.  
  
She could still see the blood leaking from his body where the bullets had pierced him. "We" had been his last word. We, like they were a single entity. How she still wished they were. The K-Directorate agents had captured both of them seconds later and had placed them in separate cells.  
  
Sydney never got to see the body, didn't know when he really died.  
  
She collapsed in her chair. Footsteps clicked into her room.  
  
"Miss Stevens? Rita? Rita, are you alright?" A hand touched her shoulder.  
  
Sydney looked up. Sark was gone. She wiped her eyes and looked at the person beside her. It was her colleague, Richard Malignio. She pulled out her lipstick and untwisted it, placing it on the desk in front of her.  
  
"Can we talk?"  
  
-  
  
Two days later, Richard Albert Malignio III was found dead in the men's faculty restroom. 


	5. Hindsight

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
Hindsight-  
  
'Eventually she had married Sark. Looking back, she wondered what had caused her to fall in love with him. She had fallen in love before, twice. Both had ended tragically. Obviously she had thought the third time was the charm.'  
  
-  
  
She sits in an armchair, knees up to her chin. Watching television but not really watching. Trying to recollect what happened the previous night.  
  
Sark had asked her to marry him.  
  
And out of what can only be referred to as spur-of-the-moment, Sydney had said yes.  
  
What scares her is when she fell in love with him. She has always assumed that she would get married before turning thirty, and here she is at thirty-four. She doesn't know if she really wants to get married. She still remembers him being her enemy. When did that change?  
  
She pulls the conversation back from where she has buried it deep in her mind.  
  
-  
  
He is next to her; his arm wrapped around her, hand resting on her bare stomach where her shirt has lifted. She is not pulling away, yet she is not holding on to him. His suave accent is saying something, but she isn't listening. Her head drops on his shoulder and she tries to tune him out. Even after living with this man for three years, she still feels she does not want to create a relationship like he wants to. She is just starting to forget everything. Getting involved would only make her wish for everything she didn't have but always wanted. Needed.  
  
He starts to rub he stomach. Gently, with too much care. She doesn't want to be impolite, but she is uncomfortable. She asks him what's wrong. He holds off for a moment, unsure if he should say it or not. She is surprised.   
  
This is the first time he has been at a loss for words.   
  
She smiles at him, a genuine smile. They really do care for each other, be it brother-sister, husband-wife, roommate-roommate. He smiles back, his face looking relieved. She tells him that whatever he has to say, she is behind him one-hundred percent.   
  
It really is amazing how they have gone from enemies to close friends in just a few short years.  
  
He still doesn't speak, but starts rubbing her stomach again. This time she says nothing, just watches his face and contemplates what he is trying to say. She takes his other hand in hers and he looks into her eyes.  
  
"I think I'm in love with you."  
  
-  
  
Sydney freezes, the blood pumping through her loudly. He hadn't said anything. She had. 


	6. All backwash

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
All backwash-   
  
'Eventually she had married Sark. The only good outcome of their affair had been Liam. Liam's name had been an issue. It was a tribute to Sydney's previous loves; Sark had thought it sounded exotic. Both had loved their child. Sydney still loved him. Sark didn't have enough time to get to know him. His own son, ripped away from him when death was two steps away. The agony of it.'  
  
-  
  
Despite everything, Sydney did forget. She forgot everything and everyone. Every face, every memory. Every laugh, every smile. Every hug, every kiss. All of it. Until the day she found out she was pregnant. That's when it all came back to her.  
  
-  
  
"Look right into the light, Rita. Okay, everything seems fine. Let me just check your heartbeat and blood pressure, then we should be set." The blood pressure monitor started sqeezing her arm tightly. A few seconds later, it was off and cold metal was placed on her back. She was told to breathe deeply; an anger-management step, she recalled from somewhere. The frozen touch was lifted off and placed around the doctor's neck.  
  
Sydney looked around the exam room, blinking. It was just a routine checkup, but she dreaded it all the same. Every time she had ever been called into a medical facility, something just happened to go wrong. Like Vaughn.  
  
Wait, Vaughn? Who was Vaughn? She watched the doctor write something down and tried to refresh her memory.  
  
Vaughn. He had died for her. How could she have forgotten? A tear came from her eye, and she wiped it away quickly. All sorts of memories washed over her, like the ocean drowning her. She was gasping; she could tell.  
  
"Rita? Are you alright?"  
  
Funny how that phrase triggered so many more forgetten events.  
  
Before she started all-out crying, she took in a deep breath and exhaled. All her problems were whooshing out of her. They would come back and haunt her later.  
  
Quickly, she smiled. Forced the thought out of her head. "I'm fine. There was something in my eye."  
  
The doctor seemed suspicious but rid the idea. Obviously; one doesn't gasp when there's something in their eye. She smiled back anyway. "I have some news for you, Rita."  
  
"Good news or bad news?"  
  
"Good, I'm hoping."  
  
Since the doctor seemed to have her mouth glued shut, Sydney asked, "What is it?"  
  
"Well, I'll have to run some more tests to be sure, but I believe you're pregnant."  
  
"That can't be true. I haven't had sex in, in a long time. Besides, look at me!"  
  
"You're not that far along, Rita. We need to bring you in for more tests later this week. When are you free?"  
  
This was insane. If anyone found out that Sydney was having an unplanned child, they would be extremely surprised. Sydney wasn't on either side when it came to abortion, but right now quite a few things were running through her mind. Adoption was worse than abortion. The child knew you existed just didn't know who you were. She would have to keep the child.  
  
She almost laughed at the idea of having her own kid. And with Sark, of all people. She'd wanted to have a child with--with someone else.  
  
Two someone elses.  
  
-  
  
The day the doctor told her, she had been shocked. She and Sark had had sex only a few times after their wedding, and it was now almost their one-year anniversary. They'd used birth control and protection and everything. Even when you're so sure about everything, something always doesn't go along. 


	7. Where memories come

Effects, by tOo  
characters owned by JJ Abrams and others. plot owned by tOo, except flashbacks from the show.  
  
  
Where memories come-  
  
'The only good outcome of their affair had been Liam. Liam's name had been an issue. It was a tribute to Sydney's previous loves; Sark had thought it sounded exotic. Both had loved their child.'  
  
-  
  
Nine months was a long time. Sydney often wondered—between cravings for Krispy Kreme or jalepeno peppers—how her mother had done it. Had it been an easy pregnancy? Translation: Had Irina ever forced her husband to choose between buying a doughnut shop or baking the doughnuts himself?  
  
Sark had tried his hand at baking them at first. They always turned out too doughy or too crisp. Sometimes they were too hot, sometimes there wasn't enough icing on them. Watching him fumble over the ingredients, Sydney sometimes forgot her original craving from laughing so hard.  
  
Of course, that very day Sark had gone out and purchased the nearest pastry shop, as well as the machinery found in the average doughnut shop. He'd even hired some pastry chefs-in-training to make doughnuts when they weren't in cuisine school. He was so sweet. There were many moments where Sydney wondered why she had hated him.   
  
Then she remembered the killing of her mother and father.  
  
But that wasn't him directly. Just because that assasin had been under him didn't mean he had had her parents killed. It didn't mean anything.   
  
Besides, Sark loved her. And she loved him. He could make her forget everything and relax, something no one had ever been able to do. Ever.  
  
Except Liam. And his namesakes.  
  
-  
  
Sydney sat in the hospital bed. Sark had been out of the country when she had gone into labor. Four hours later, he had arrived, but so had his son. Their son. The 'bundle of joy' that just would not stop crying. That stubbornness he got from both his parents. What would he be like when he grew older? Would he get into the family business? No, the time to think about that was not now.  
  
Sark appeared in the doorway and Sydney smiled. He smiled back, his lip genetically sucked in a bit. Sydney looked down, but their son didn't have the trademark lip. She almost sighed; it would have been so cute if he did indeed have it. Sark reached her bed and they kissed softly, a welcome home kiss. Sydney handed him their son.  
  
She still couldn't believe it. Her, with a child. She had never imagined herself with children. She'd never seemed the motherly type. Run around and kicking butt, that's what she did best. Never had she even thought about child-rearing less than a year ago. Now there was a child sleeping in her husband's arms.  
  
This was definitely not a dream.  
  
-  
  
The time came to fill out the birth certificate. Sydney and Sark had pondered names for their child to be when he was still in the womb, but now he was right in front of him and they referred to him only as 'sweetie.' Watching the world news one day, baby in her lap, Sydney watched as United States Secretary of the State Liam Coast made a speech. What it covered and what he looked like, she could barely remember, but it was his name that caught her eye. Liam. Short. Simple. Perfect.  
  
Before she could stop herself, Sydney realized that she was thinking about Vaughn and Danny. And how Danny's middle name had been William. And Vaughn's father had been named William. She rid her mind of the thoughts, but the name stuck with her.  
  
She called Sark into the room. Told him about the name.   
  
"Exotic. I like it."  
  
"I love it." She hoped he wouldn't notice the glaze that came over her eyes.  
  
"I love you." He leaned towards her, trying to kiss her.  
  
"And I love you." She leaned towards the baby in her arms, laughing, and kissed his cheeks. Sark placed his hand on her shoulder and she glanced up. Both smiled as Liam giggled at his parents. 


End file.
